Tragically, your efforts were in vain and all three of your friends died

Sheriff Liddle

Jenna had tried to grab the wheel as Gemmell swerved across the road, but the teenage driver “over-corrected,” causing the fatal crash, which left the vehicle’s engine lying on a grass verge Gemmell, who, like the victims, was from nearby Dunbar, called 999 soon, but, due to his “distressed and disorientated” state, it took medics around 45 minutes to reach the scene.

As he recovered in hospital, the teenager confessed to his father, Mark, that he had been behind the wheel of the car.

Gemmell sobbed throughout a hearing last month when he admitted causing death while driving carelessly.

He returned to court yesterday to be sentenced by Sheriff Gordon Liddle, and was banned from driving for four years and ordered to carry out 300 hours unpaid work under a two-year Community Payback Order.

Sheriff Liddle told Gemmell: “It is clear from that phone call that you did everything you possibly could to render assistance to your friends, who were injured.

“Tragically, your efforts were in vain and all three of your friends died.”